Dentsu Inc. partners Sandeep Goyal to set up 51:49 JV in Dubai, kicks off with two clients

Dentsu Inc. and Sandeep Goyal-owned Mogae has announced a joint venture for the Middle East. The new agency, Dentsu Marcom Middle East FZ LLC, will be a 51:49 JV between Dentsu Inc. and Mogae and will be headquartered in Dubai. Goyal will be the Chairman of the Board of the new agency.

“To operate under trade licence from the Dubai Media City Free Zone, the new ad agency has an authorized capital of US$ 1 million. Manish Vasishta, till recently Country Head of Zee Arabia, has been roped in as General Manager of the new entity. Nikhil Ferriera, an ad agency veteran of Dubai, will head client services at the new agency,” Goyal, Chairman, Dentsu India, said.

Goyal further observed, “We are delighted to be spreading our wings to new geographies, especially the exponentially growing markets of the Middle East. We see a lot of promise there. It will also be good exposure for our people to run businesses in newer markets. We hope to work with most of Dentsu’s global businesses in the Middle East over time, besides opening up opportunities amongst local businesses.”

Dentsu Marcom Middle East has in fact already signed up the prestigious Dubai Police account for its road safety initiative. “The campaign breaks towards the end of the year. The creatives were really appreciated by the Dubai Police authorities and the campaign is receiving very enthusiastic support from corporate sponsors in Dubai,” informed Rajesh Aggarwal, Executive Director, Dentsu Marcom India, who will be overseeing the Dubai operation from India.

Alukkas, one of Dubai’s largest jewellery retailers, is also in the kitty. “We have at least half a dozen clients in the pipeline already, which should all start to bill from end of this year,” Aggarwal said. The agency is targeting billings of US$ 20 million by the end of 2006.

Dentsu Inc. has two joint venture agencies in India with Goyal’s Mogae. In both, Dentsu Communications and Dentsu Marcom, the Japanese agency owns 74% equity while Sandeep & Tanya Goyal hold 26 per cent.

TheDentsu agencies in India handle Toyota, Honda, Yamaha, Sony Ericsson,Canon, Tata Tea, Park Avenue, HDFC SL Insurance, Radico Khaitan, Blaupunkt, Biocon, Suzlon Energy, besides others. Dentsu’s Indian operations are slated to cross Rs 300 crore in billings by end-2005.

Last week Dentsu India announced a tie-up with Evernew Concepts, the fifth largest agency in Pakistan, to service some of its global clients.